A review by lacifaeria
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This is a remarkable book about a lifelong epic preoccupation/obsession with some parts that definitely did not age well in the nigh 100 years since it was first published. Still, it was strange reading this now and seeing how many events/attitudes still featured prominently in an era ravaged by a pandemic. The section which preceded how Dr. Juvenal Urbino discovered Fermina Daza was dazzling in how succinct it was at providing a snapshot of pre-20th century medicine and sewage treatment while also feeling painfully familiar when detailing the reluctance he experienced in attempting to drag local medical methods towards the future in a community reliant on superstition and traditional methods of healing (although his being against vaccines was a bit disheartening).

And also love. How love, in all its pervasiveness and obsessiveness, seems to be the same, 100 years ago as it is now. It's beautifully written and some of the phrasing is majestically composed, even the parts that seem understated. If there was a way you could just cut the "America Vicuna" parts at the end (very uncomfortable), I think the rest is an eloquent examination of a lifelong focus, and how different people become in the pursuit of long-term goals. 

The evolution of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, from the moment we really get to know them as teens experiencing the rush of first love to the end when, after entire lifetimes spent tucked away in their independent lives they reconnect as seasoned elders, was such an incredible journey. Both of theirs, with Fermina being courted by Dr. Juvenal Urbino and settling into a quiet familiar contented married life and with Florentino attempting to sate his desire for companionship in a variety of widows before, once again, returning to worship at the Altar of the Crowned Goddess. I thought it was the kind of perspective you don't usually get to see, with a level of pointed focus that would put an engineer to shame. 

Though, at the end of the day, this was still a love story about two people spread out over several decades and the transition of two centuries, encapsulated in poignancy and heartbreak.
And, yeah, at the end, I was still rooting for Florentino, and for finding "Forever" after fifty-three years, seven months, and eleven days and nights. 
I'm a softie and a romantic at heart.
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